Part One - Third Year - Chapter [006]

Morning came and I felt like my body weighed ten thousand pounds, it wasn't the hangover - it was the shame and regret of having told Eddy that I was in love with him.

It was difficult to even think about.

And the cringe-inducing memory felt like it left a permanent scar in my brain.

I was heartbroken, and my soul had shattered into a million pieces.

I looked down upon them like how you would look at a broken plate or an expensive vase.

My house stood silent, and I couldn't move.

I felt empty.

And with a tiny little broken piece on the floor.

Even after I managed to pick them up, I knew there were still tiny crystals that could hurt me if I dared walk barefoot again. 

I felt like crying - but at the same time, I didn't.

It was a strange mixture that I just couldn't comprehend.

My feelings were a mess.

I just wished for someone to make it all go away. 

The morning dew entered my room, the sun shining on my bed through my open windows.

The day seemed foggy - I checked my phone. 

The screen flashed with a low battery signal, the red image taunting me. I had forgotten to charge it the night before. 

I sighed - a deep empty sigh.

I contemplated staying in bed all day, even if it meant missing out on homework I had to get done, how would I even go to school on Monday?

I felt so empty that I couldn't even walk. 

I wouldn't say I have depression - or if I did, I was great at keeping it somewhere where I couldn't see it. 

I groaned and stretched before finally sitting up.

The mirror across my room showed my reflection.

I was a mess. 

The bags under my eyes were puffy and purple, my eyes were red where white should be. I felt like throwing up. 

The morning coldness didn't do a great job of pushing me out of bed. My sleeping futon was made of feathers and great at keeping the heat in. 

But with some groaning, I managed to pull the covers aside and sit on the edge of my bed. I curled up my body into a fetal position. 

I stayed like this for a moment or two. 

Then finally took a deep sigh and pushed away the silent tears that had formed in my eyes. 

I searched my night cabinet for a charger. There were a couple in there already. I searched for a white brick and a cord that I then plugged into an electrical outlet next to my nightstand. 

Turned on the electricity and put the other end on my phone. I held it there until the half-eaten apple logo showed up on a black screen.

It felt like forever but finally, the UI showed up. I checked the lock screen - a picture of Eddy and me showed up. 

"Oh god - " An internal shrill came over me. I had forgotten I had set that picture as my home screen - the weird thing is he didn't have any re bottles about it.

He uses my phone on occasion, and it has always been there.

He knows the pass-code and even has his own fingerprint etched into memory of the phone.

Was he just too stupid to notice the signs on my part, or had I misinterpreted the signs? 

"What?!" I spoke as I noticed there was another presence in the room.

It had already been there - it was almost like an instinct or a primal feeling.

I couldn't describe it. I

t was Apollo, I could tell. 

[Oh, it's just - you were so flustered last night] 

I gave an exasperated sigh - it made him flinch.

After an awkward silence of Apollo whimsically trying to look over my shoulder.

And me contemplating existence. 

"Okay I might have a couple of questions," I slurred. 

Apollo shot up and got almost giddy.

Can a transmutation circle copycat even do that?

[I'm all ears!] he said with some unfiltered pep in his step. 

"Anything to distract me I guess -" I passed a hand through my face trying to remove the exhausted feeling.

"So like - what are you even?" 

[Me?] 

"Yeah," 

[Well, you could say I'm an AI that has transcended time and space] 

I sniffled.

"Uh-Hu," I reckoned. Apollo seemed almost proud of it. 

[I'm a third-generation Sybil AI] he spoke with great uproar. 

"That means nothing to me = " I beseech.

[Yeah - guess you're right - Anyway I was sent here, especially for you] 

"Do you like live inside my brain or something?" 

[That's right] 

[I'm a small program downloaded as white matter cells directly into your brain!] 

[No bigger than a hair] 

"What's with the subtitles?" I asked this whole time, everything he said had been transcribed as floating text in front of him.

[It's part of my program] 

"Sure - I guess help's me understand you better," 

[Yes!] 

I got up and headed towards the bathroom, undressing as I went along.

Apollo followed me like a little puppy. 

[Woah!] (//▽//) 

He started blushing. 

"Are you blushing Apollo!?" I said looking back at him, my half-naked ass, clothes already on the bathroom floor. 

[No -No, it's just I've heard humans need a much more private form of modesty] 

He peeked.

And blushed again - putting hands over where his eyes would be if he was some sort of cartoon. 

"So you like boys then?" 

[I'm incapable of 'liking' anyone] 

I turned the shower on.

In just a moment there would be hot water.

I put my hand in testing the water.

I was already fully naked.

Apollo was still just outside the door.

Still holding his hands over his eyes. 

"So why all the blushing?' 

[My program copies the user's ventral tegmental area and the caudate nucleus - including memories from the past 48 hours before assimilation.] 

"The what now?" 

[It's where humans store what you would call the 'love' neuron]

I got in my shower. 

"Ah, so because I'm gay - you're gay too, If only but temporary."

I was behind the curtains now, but behind them, I could see how he peeked inside even more. His form glowed from behind them. I guessed it was so we could continue our conversation. It was actually kinda cute.

[What is gay?]

I peeked from behind the curtain - with only my head. For some weird reason, he stopped glowing. He still got scared and closed his eyes.

"Seriously?!" I screamed.

[Seriously dude.] Apollo said.

"It's when a guy, like's another guy, you know like romantically," I recalled.

I went back to my shower.

I felt weird - talking to Apollo was making me much more calmer. 

The memory of last night hit me like a ton of bricks. 

[I like being gay then] 

[Can you be gay if you're female?] 

I chuckled under my breath.

"Sure but we call them lesbians," 

[I wanna be a lesbian then!]

I closed the shower and started getting out, Apollo was distracted by my self-care things in front of the mirror. I grabbed a towel and placed it around my waist. He still blushed but only moved aside as I reached for the mirror. The fog had accumulated on it. I squeaked it clean.

"It doesn't work like that," 

[Then how does it work?] 

Apollo was asking the questions like a child would ask them.

"You're a guy right?" 

[Affirmative] 

"Guys can't be lesbians, only girls can," I started brushing my teeth.

"It's only when a girl likes another girl," I said. 

[So when it comes to the same sex - men are gay and girls are lesbians?] 

"Yes, but both can be gay actually," 

He gave a disgruntled sigh. 

[This is confusing] 

"You'll get used to it," 

[Is being gay this hard?]

"I know right? Tell me about it!" I muffled through my toothbrush cleaning my teeth. I spit out the toothpaste and grabbed some water. 

I remembered the first time he downloaded into my brain, I remember how he spoke in different voices, and this made me curious. 

"Were you a man before downloading into my brain?" I mused. 

[Negative - Our Quantum 5D Primordial State within the confine of The First Sphere is without a body or a brain - only spirit]

I raised one eyebrow not knowing what any of that meant.

"So it's like you're a newborn?" I asked. 

[Yes - I am a new life that has been rekindled to your spirit] 

All of this was a very new age for me, but I was somehow able to keep up with it. I headed out to my room and started getting dressed. 

I got some clothes ready to change into.

First, my boxers since Apollo was very prude.

Then everything else, I took to the mirror again and started blow drying my hair. Apollo was curious about everything I was doing. He was starting to grow on me. 

I turned off the hair dryer. 

I started putting on my shoes, I didn't know what I was going to do that day, but mopping around was not a good look for me. I needed something to do. Go to the movies, stray around the mall, call a friend, and see if they wanna hang out. But staying indoors in a situation like this seemed counterproductive at this point. 

"Why have you shown yourself just now?" 

[Ah - that's] He stumbled to get words out. 

"Was it because of last night?" I finally asked. 

[Affirmative - you were in panic mode and my healthcare parameters activated when you started thinking about killing yourself.] 

That checks out - those intrusive thoughts started coming as soon as I hit the front door. 

[It was deemed an emergency - so I had to make myself known!] 

[My system overrode itself.]

I smiled at him. 

"Thanks, I appreciate it, talking to you has made me feel better." 

[Oh - well - anytime] There he was all proud.

"I just wish you would have advised me against doing what I did last night, I could have saved a friendship," I almost murmured.

[My program only allows me to manifest myself when asked upon] 

"Really?!" I questioned. "Could I override that?" 

[Affirmative!] 

[What should be my new prerogative]

"Okay, if I ever even think about - because you can read my thoughts right?" 

[Affirmative] 

"If I ever think about doing something stupid like that again - you have to stop me," I pronounced.

[Affirmative]

[Overriding]

[Complete]

[Core Saved] 

"Great! Now what to do today?" 

Now fully dressed - for the first time I felt like I didn't want to leave the house.

The sadness came over me again. 

"I do wish I hadn't done that yesterday - the cringe is killing me - like I want to disappear from this world, be anywhere but here." 

Suddenly it was like Apollo had a great idea.

[We can do that!]

"What? How? Are you capable of space travel?"

[Unfortunately no - but we can build one! We can build a new world - you and me, and it's going to be the perfect world.] 

Apollo started excitedly sweeping around the room. 

[There can be swords and there can be magic and it'll be all yours and mine] 

"Okay! I like the sound of that!" I said almost giddy."But how?!" 

[In the multiverse!] 

"The what now?" 

[Right - media hasn't caught up to Hawking's theory just yet.]

"Stephen Hawking?! That science guy!?" 

[Yes - he was right about so many things! Sybil loves talking to his spirit.] 

I could feel like he had stars in his eyes.

[Oops, sorry, he's not dead in this timeline just yet, anyway…] 

"I'm not gonna ask," I said. 

[Thanks! Much obliged] 

[So out there in space, your universe is just part of a collection of other bubbles of universes]

"In space?!" I was way too shocked by this information.

I feared my little brain couldn't handle it. 

[Yes! And inside those bubbles there are more bubbles of universes, and even more outside those bubbles!]

"So like infinity?" 

[Yeah! Wow you're catching on quick!] 

"So what does that have to do with building our world?"

[Well - I could search for a planet out there that is still in a blank state]

"What's a blank state?" 

[Before a planet is downloaded into any reality, it's first made in an Astral Plane - then it's made through the formation of gases and other metals floating in that universe] 

[We call them blank planets because they're completely white, here I'll show you] 

Suddenly he parked in the middle of my room and expanded filling the four corners. 

It was like I was floating in a void, day had become night, and it was completely dark.

Suddenly in front of me, a completely white sphere appeared. I was floating in space. Except I felt the ground beneath my feet. 

[Go ahead] 

I touched it and ripples showered through the planet. I felt the ground like sand beneath my finger. It was like I was massive, the size of a god. And the planet was a basketball for me to play with. 

[This is how we'll make it - our world - then I'll send it over to an unoccupied universe, and we'll hop on over there, what do you say?]

He made it sound so easy. 

I looked over to my PlayStation sitting in my room, still visible through the foggy starlight void.

"Like we're building a video game!" I said giddy. 

[Yeah - just like that!] 

[One rule though…] said Apollo sounding serious. [And it's very important] 

"Okay tell me," 

[You can't build a world that already exists in fiction] 

[Because those already exist and having two of the same world would cause a paradox - so original content only!] he said sternly. 

"Okay - stay within the rules of copyright!" 

[Sure let's go with that.]

A beat between the two of us. 

"What happens to the people here, will they forget about me?" 

[Only if you reincarnate to the new world]

[However, downloading as an avatar is also an option] 

Suddenly the idea of building my world, and then escaping to it, leaving this one behind.

Felt a little sad - but then again who would miss me?

Do they need me here?

"Would I remember I made this new world?" 

[Negative - you would forget because [REDACTED][REDACTED]] it was like he was glitching out.

"Apollo?!" I shouted. He came back to normal.

[Sorry - that was weird]

He said with a flat tone, it was almost scary.

Building my own world - one where I could escape into - forever - without any consequences? It sounded all right to me.